Rockstar has appealed the British Board of Film Classification’s U.K. ban of its controversial and still-unreleased Manhunt 2.
The appeal was registered with the Video Appeals Committee, which has the power to overturn bans implemented by the BBFC. Rockstar had been given six weeks from the date of the ban to appeal the decision, and waited until nearly the last minute before making the move.
No date for the appeal has been set. The Appeals Committee will hear from both Rockstar and the BBFC, as well as view demonstrations of the game, before rendering its decision. There is a basis for some degree of optimism in the appeal; the last videogame ban levied in the U.K., against Carmageddon in 1997, was overturned on appeal.
Manhunt 2 was banned for sale in the U.K. in June on the basis of its extreme and graphic violence. Speaking about the ban, BBFC Director David Cooke said at the time, “Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end videogames by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.” Since then, the game has received an Adults Only rating from the ESRB; Rockstar has not yet issued a statement regarding its intentions for the game in North America.
